Apple Maps Accidentally Outs Secret Military Base in Taiwan

Apple Maps may not be able to find you the best route home, but the app may have a future in international espionage.

The new iOS mapping software has outed a top-secret military facility in Taiwan, allowing millions of people satellite access to something that was supposed to stay hidden—namely, a $1.2 billion radar system designed to give Taiwan minutes of extra warning in case of a Chinese missile attack.

Advertisement

A spokesman for the Tawainese defense ministry said the nation has no legal recourse over "images taken by commercial satellites," but added that Taiwan would ask Apple to lower their resolution. Apple hasn't yet responded to the flap. Somewhere Google Maps engineers are having another good laugh.